mann -tables of the law

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First Paul Dry Books edition, 2010

Pal Dry Books Inc.Philadelphia, Pennsylvaniawpdryb0kc"m

Originally pblished as Ja z

Cpyriht 1960 1974 S Fischer Verla GmbHrankfurt am Main

Translation, Introdction andAfterword copyriht 2010 Paul Dry Books Inc

All rihts reserved

Printed in the Unite States of Americaibrary of Conress Cataloi-in-Pblication Data

Mann Thomas, 875955(esetz Enlish)The tables of the law Thmas Mann; translated by Marin Faber

and Stephn Lehmann st Paul Dry Books edcm

Oriially ublished as: Das esetz 1944ISBN 98158988053 alkpaer

. Moses Biblical leadeFiction Faber Marin I ehmannStephe III Title

PT2625A44G5 00833912dc2

200003618


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Ctet

Introduction v

THE TABLES OF THE LAW 3

Afterwo 3


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Moses story, to bring these fr nd legendry gres lose

to the modern reder in n intimte, ntrl nd convinc

ing mnner This reqired mch phntsy nd certin

ctionte brnd o hmor "

Th Tbs of h w grew ot of proposl by theAstrinborn pblisher, impresrio, librettist, nd lit

erry gent Armin Robinson to prodce ovie tht

would drmtize to the world the Nzi desecrtion of the

Mosic ecloge, whih represented the very fond

tion of civiliztion nd morlity Robinson discssed theie with Mnn nd even broght him long to meet

ing with Hollywood mogl ois . Myer, the hed of

MGM The movie didn't terilie, bt Rbinson went

forwrd with proposl to gther the contribtions of

ten writersone per ommndmentinto book Mnngreed to write n introdtory essy nd signed on

trct r one thosnd dollrs

Mnn's introdction qickly evolved into long story

tht he sent to Robinson with the oer how sincere we

cnt know) to ct it rdiclly. Robinson, not srprisingly,ws hppy to cept it s Mnn hd given it to hi nd

decided to se it s the rst of the ten stories in the n

thology After few lse strts, Ds sz fond trns

ltor in George Mrekt the time msic writer, lter n

RCA exectivewho worked nder Mnn's spervisionTh Tn Condmns: Tn Sho Nos o H's

W Agns h o Cod ws pblished by Simon nd


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Schster in tie for Christs 943. Hern Rsch

ning, who had been n eary Nzi bt by 943 was a con

vinced opponent and a feow refugee, wrote the preface

He set the stage for the coections stories by describing

eeting he hd ttended with Hiter, Goebbs, JisStreicher, nd others: The dy wi coe," Hiter is sup

posed to hve sid, hen sh hod p ginst these

condents the tbes of new w . . Aginst the

soced ten condents, ginst the we re ght

ing" Historins now beieve tht Rchnings acconths itte bsis in fct)

Mnns story ws the rst in the coection. An inter

nation roster of thors, soe of th t th ti

ost as proinent as Mnn hisef, wrote the other

nine Rebecc West, Frnz Werfe, John Erskine, BrnoFrank, Jes Roins, Andr Mrois, Sigrid Undset,

Hendrik Wie Vn Loon, and Lois Broed Mnn

cied to be ipressed by the inep t in the end

was conteptos of the others contribtions. The one

thousanddor fee, he coented, seeed to hve beentheir ony inspirtion, nd none of the erts was worth

it; he regrded the coection s a fire" fro which his

own story stood ot.

The writing f Th Tabs of th aw trned ot to

be the easy prt n the onths nd yers tht foowed,Mnns diries nd correspondence track the seeingy

endess bickering ong pbishers, gents, nd trns


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tors ver who owned what rihts to the text The stuid-

est and most muddled usiness that has ever haened to

any work of mine" is how he characterzed the situation

to hs Germanlanuae ubsher ottfried ermann

Fsher.The dsutes arose when ermann Fischer, Alfred

Knof (Mnn's US ublisher), Rbinson, and Felix Gu

enheim (whose Paic Press ulished the story in a ri

vte, luxury" rntn) found themselves buttin heads

over the coyrght Althouh contractually bound to ermann Fischer, and throuh him to Knof, Mann had un

thnkinly sned over t Roinson the rihts to this one

story awyers were called in nd cntentios letters and

telerams crisscrossed the country nd the Atlantic

As f this weren't enouh, Knof nsisted on havn theEnlish versin of the story done aain from scratch y

Mann's reulr trnsltr, elen T. owePorter, a drec

tive Mann descred n his diary as a terrile blw for

Marek," addin, am disusted y these trvilties."

e was much less ertured by a number of critical resonses to hs story from Jewish commentators who o

jected to what they erceived as a neative ortrayl of

the Jews (the horde"), thouh he was sorry for what he

took to be a misunderstandn of his motivations and a

misreadin of the iecen Roinson's colecton, each of the contributns

carried as its title one of the commandments; Mann's


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story, s the rst, ws ven the ttle Thou Shlt ve

No Other Gods Before Me" Althouh he exlned tht

hs more enomssn Germn ttle, s stz lter

lly, The Lw"), ws desnton not only of the ec-

loue, ut of morl lw s whole, humn cvztontsel'' Mnn hmself uthorzed h Tbls of t aw for

the LowePorter trnslton. Becuse of ts sety, s

well s ts resonne nd weht, we hve held to ths ttle

for our own trnlton.

f Mrek's trnslton lcks the verve nd olsh of tssource, t s metulous. The sme cnnot e sd of Lowe

Porter's, of whom Mnn's son Golo lter wrote, . . . we

lwys thouht [her trnsltons] were very ood Of

course, we d them no ttenton. Grdully t turned

out tht they were retty d" Whle her work reds u-ently, she tends to smlfy Mnn's lnue or omt df-

fcult elements ltoether. Furthermore, oth erler

trnstors often eloy nowntquted vocury

tht my kee twentyrstentury reder from re

tn the story's Voltreneted humor, whose centrl-ty to hs coneton Mnn stressed n nd n (nd

whch he desred of seen relzed n trnsltn).

And ndeed, the chllenes nherent n ny trnsl-

ton of work y Thoms Mnn re ret. Hs mster

fu, erfetly lnced erodc senteneswhose lenthycluses succeed one nother wth comete lrty thnks

to the Germn nue's rh vrety of endered rt


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es and declined nounsbecome unwieldy or obscure

in Enlish and must often be divided into smaller units,

lihtenin the character and quickenin the ace of the

narrative Mann's style is characterized by the use of leit

motifs, with certain eithets or hrases recurrin in analmost Wanerian manner throuhout the text; because

no two words hve entirely the same range of meanin in

oth ngues, an ttemt to reserve these markers" in

transltion is nother chlene. Mann's frequent use of

wordly and uns, rhaic formultions, and neooismsadds to the dicuty. All these stylistic elements create a

unique tone, both erudite and arch, dinied and layful,

whih is an essential comonent of Mann's identity as a

writer. n this new transltion our overarchin objective

ws to be true to this identity.Mann's noted enhant for arahrasin other works

or even imortin assaes into his writing was also an

issue, for he often inorortes voaulary hrases, and

sometimes short sections from the ible i his telin of

the Moses story. Where Mann quotes directly from Martin uther's trnslation of the ible, we have used the

Kin James Version s our Enlishlanuae equivalent

On March 13, 1943, Mann wrote in his diary: n

the mornin nished the story as sz on the 93r

ae Afterward corrcted the beinnins of the tyesrit." On Mrch 14: Thouhts about my old lan for a

Novele on r Faust.' ookin around for readin" (One

X


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sees why he wrote of his roductivity as a nrcoti) Doc

to ustus woud e the drkest of Manns majo noves,

s fr as ossile from the lihtness he strov for in

bls of th w whose imssioned conclusion, how-

ever, can e red as a kind of modultion to the reat,rim work that followed ndeed, for l its humor and

irreverence, Mnn's Cifornian renderin of the nient

Jewish story is informed y the traedy yin out k

in Germny, the drk enter of its comic form.

Mron Fbr

Sthn mnn


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T TABL

O T LA


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O

i BITH ws irrulr, and so he ssiontely lovedreulrity the inviolle, commnment nd too

As a youn man, he hd killed in a ery outurst, nd

so he knew etter thn thse with no exerience tht

to kill my e sweet, ut to hve killed is hstly in the

extreme, and tht you should not kill

His senses were hot, and so he yerned for siritulity,

urity, nd holinessthe invisile, whih seemed to him

siritul, holy, and ure

Because he had killed mn more ut tht shortly),

he had een forced to ee Eyt, the lnd of his irth, to

live amon the Midinites, usy herders and trders dis-

ersed in the dsert There he mde the quintne of

od whom you could not see, ut who sw you; moun-

tain dweller who at the sme tim sat invisile uon a

ortle rk in tent, where he issued orles y cst-

in lots For the children of Midian this numen clld

Yhweh was one od mon mny; they did not thinkmuch out their duties to him dischrin them only

for safety's sake and just in case t had ocurred to them

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that amon the many ods there mht ossly e one

whom they could not ee, a formless one, and they made

sacrices to him only so as to omt nothn, to ond

no one, and to avod unleasantness from any ossble

quarterThanks to hs lonn for urit and holiness, Moses,

by contrast, ws deely imressed by Yahweh's invsibl-

ty; he eleved that no vsile od could mtch an nvis-

ile one r holness and was mazed tht the chldren of

Mdian were so quick to dismss an attrbute tht to himseemed full of oundless mlcatons In lon, dicult,

and viorous delberatons in the desert while tendin

the shee that eloned to the rother of his Midiante

wife, shaken y insrations and revelations, which in one

artculr case even broke forth from inside hm and vis-ted his soul as a min external vision, as a literally en-

etratin revelton nd n inescaable mission, he became

convined that Yahweh must e none other thn El

Elyon, the o most hh, El Roi, the od who sees me

the One who has alwys een called El Shad," theod of the mountain," El Olm, the od of the world and

the everlastnn a word, none other than the God of

Abrham, Isaac, and Jaco, the God of hs fathers, that s

to sy, of the fathers of those tries ck home in the land

o Eyt, oor, dark, efuddled in ther worshi, rootlessand enslaved, whose lood on his father' side owed in

his own, in Moses', vens.

4 T H O S N


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For that reson, and lled wth ths dscovery, hs soul

heavy wth ts msson but also trembln wth the lon

in to resond to the command, he broke o hs sojorn

of many years mon the chldren of Md n, set uon an

as hs wfe Zorah (a most atrn womn, ben adauhter of Reuel, the restkn n Man, and the ss-

ter of hs sheeownn son Jethro), lso tkin alon hs

two sons, Gerhom and Elezer, nd fter a journey of

seven days throuh mny deserts, returned west ak to

the lnd of Eyt, that s, to the fllow lowlands wherethe Nle dvide and where, n a reon clled Kessn or

sometmes Gesn, Gesem, or Goshen, the blood kn of

hs father lved nd labored

There he bean at once, wherever he walked or stood,

in the huts and at the worksites and sture rounds, toexlan to ths blood kn hs ret revelton, dnln hs

arms n a rtculr way and shkn hs sts tremulously

on both sdes of hs body e nformed them that the

God of ther fthers had been redscovered, tht e hd

seen t to reveal mself to hm, Moshh ben Amram, atthe mountin of oreb n the wlderness of Sn, from a

bush that burned and was not consumed; that s name

was Yhweh, whh s to be understood s m tht

am, from everlstn to everlastn," but lso as wan

breeze nd a ret ror; that e hd tken a fancy to theirblood kn nd ws reared under certan conditons to

seal wth them a ovenant of electon from all eoles,

T E B E S O T E W


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assumin, that is, that they would swear alleiance to

im and im alone and establish a confederacy to serve

the nvisible One alone, free of idols

e oaded them relentlessly with this messae, while

his sts trembled at the end of his extraordinarily broadwrists And yet he was not quite honest with them, evad

in various matters, even the heart of the matter, for fear

of unnervin them e told them nothin, then, of the

imliations of invisibility, that is of sirituality, urity,

and holiness, and referred not to oint out to them thatas the sworn servants of the nvisible ne they wold

have to be a eole aart, siritual, ure, and holy e ket

this from them for fear of frihtenin them; for they were

such a miserable, oressed lk, befuddled in their wor-

shi, this blood kin of his father, and he mistrusted themalthouh he lovd thm ndeed, when he roclaimed to

them that Yahwh, the nvisible One, ha taken a fancy

to them, he atttd t te od and located in him what

miht have ben t d's, but was also at least in art his

own: he himelf tken a fancy t his father's bloodkin, as the ston fancies the shaeless lok from

whic he intend t ve a ne, noble shae, the work

of his hands e tremblin lonin, alon with

reat heavin te command, that had suused

him when h s ut f'm dianut wat e ikwis l back was the seond half

of te comm tr i had een twofold Not only was

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to annonc to s trbsmn t rdsovry of t

God of tr fathrs wo fancd tm bt was aso

to ad tm ot of t Eytan os of bonda nto

t on and trou many dsrts nto t Promsd

Land t and of tr fatrs. Ts msson was jondto and nxtrcaby ntrtwnd wt tat of t rva

ton. Godan braton for t rtrn m; th nvs-

b Onand sakn o t yok of x: t was on and

t am tout for hm But h dd nt yt t t o-

abot t bcas knw tat t on woud foowfrm t otr and aso bcas od t av t

scond on hs own wt Parao t kn of Eyt to

wom was osr tan on mt tnk.

Now wtr bcas s tak dsasd t o

(for sok swy and atny and oftn cod notnd s words) or bcas at t trmbn sak o s

sts ty snsd and markd wat was md by nvs

bty and by t or of a ovnant (tat wantd to

r tm nt xastn and danrous tns) ty

rmand dstrustf stnkd and farfu n t facof s oadn. W snakn a ook at tr Eytan

taskmastrs ty muttrd abot Moss:

Wy ar y on on k ts? And wat sorts of

tns ar yo on on about? Has somn st you abov

s as our cf or or jd? And wo mt tat b?"Ts was notn nw for m H ad ard tm

say t arr bfr d to Mdan.

B L E S F LW 7


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WO

1 FATHE was not his father, nor was his mother hismotherso irreuar was his birth Protected by her

guards, the Pharaoh Ramesses' second daughter had been

enjoying herself with her ladiesinwaiting in the roya

arden by the Nie There she became aware of a Herew

aorer wh was drawig water, and was overcome with

desire for him He had sad eyes, a it of fuzz aout his

chin, and stro arms, visible as he drew the water He

toied by the sweat f his row and had his share of trou-

es, but for Pharaoh's dauhter he was a icture of lovei-

ness and desire She ordered that he be brouht to her in

her aviion, and there she ran her exquisite itte hand

throuh his sweatsoaked hair, kissed the muses of his

arm, and so teased his manhood that he, the foreign save,

overowered her, the rincess When they had done, she

dismissed him, but he did not o far after thirty aces he

was sain and buried hastily so that nothing remained of

the sundauhter's amusementPoor man," she said whe she heard aout it. You

guards are aways so overeager He woud have ket quiet

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AmenMoses or RMoses, nmed s the sons of their

ods. Amrm nd Jocheed, however, referred to leve

out the nme of od, nd clled the boy Moses ure

nd simle So he ws quite simly son." ut the ques

tion remined, Whose?"

0 M S M N N


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TR

E GREW UP as one of te mmants and soke n tedaet. One dun a eod of dout onte o-

cas ad ven te anestos of ts bood kn emsson

to ome nto te and as stavn Bedouns of Edom" as

aao's sbes caed tem and tey ad been assned

te dstct of Gosen n te owands fo use as az

n and. Anyone wo tnks tey wee aowed to aze

tee fo fee does not know mu aout te osts

te den of Eyt Not ony dd tey ave to ve

some of te catte n taxes and so many tat t t

bt eveyone wt any stent ad to do wok as we

enfoced abo n te vaous ojects n a an

ke Eyt ae aways ben but. But t was eseay

afte Ramesses te seond of s name beame aao

n Tebes tat te bdn became excessvet was s

easue and s oya det. He but extavaant tem-

es touout te and and down by te estuaes e

not ony enewe and vey mu moved te on-neeted ana w onnected te easten am of te

Ne wt te Btte Lakes tus jonn te eat sea wt

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the ti of the Red Sea, but alon the course of the canal he

aso eected two wole teasurecities, caed Pithom and

Raamses, and fo these the childen of the immirants,

the brim, were called uon to bake and tow bricks, and

save by the sweat of thei bodies under the Eytan odn truth, this rod was merely the emblem of Phaaoh's

oveseers; the bim wee not beaten with it unneessar-

iy. They aso had enouh to eat whie they labore len-

tiful sh from the Nile, bread, beer, and bee as muh

as they needed. Nevetheess, it coud not be sad thatthe labo suited o aealed to them, for they were of a

nomadc bood, wit the tadition of a fee, wandein

ife, and fo them, workn reur hours, bein made to

sweat, was dely alien and annoyin. ut these tribes

were aliated too osey and wee not sucienty awareof themselves to aee on and be of one mind about their

isleasure. ecause they had camed fo sevea enea-

tions in a transit and between the home of ther fathes

and Eyt roe, the sou was formless, with a siit

tat wavered, and without a rm doctine; they had for-otten much, had halfleaned new thins, and because

they lacked a tue cente, they did not trust thei own

feelins, not even the ane fueled by their servtude, r

the sh, be, and beef added thei brains.

When Moses, aleedy the son of Amram, outrewhis youthful yeas, he would have ha to make brcks for

Pharah, too. ut that did not haen; instead the youth

2 M S M N N


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was taken from hs arents and brouht to a school n

er yt, a very rened born shool where the

sons of Syran ords were educted aon wth sons of

the local nobty. That s where he was laced, r hs nat

ural mother, Pharaoh's ch, who hd delvered hm ntothe reeds, a echerous creature, to be sure, but not wth-

out hert, had thouht of hm n conseraton of hs

hastly bured fther, the waterdrawer wth the bt of

fuzz and sad eyes, and she dd not wnt hm t reman

amon the svaes, but to be edutd s an ytan ndto ttan oston t the ourt, n seret semrecon

ton of hs dvne semnblty. So Moes, dressed n

wht nn and wth a w uon hs hed, lerned astron

omy nd eorahy, cllrhy and law, lthouh he was

not relly hy amon the dandes of the eent bord-n shoo, but ket to hmse reelled by the ytn

entty nd ts leasures, whh hd ven brth t hm.

The bood of the hsty bured mn who hd served ths

lesure ws stroner n hm thn th ytn oton,

nd n hs hert he ws true to the oor, frmless souls athome n Goshen, who d not hve the coure of ther

ner. He ws true to them n the fe of the eherous

arrone of hs mother's blood.

What s your nme aan?" the comrde at school

woud ask hm.'m cled Mses," he would answer.

AchMoses or PthMoses?" they ske.

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No, ust Moses," he relied

Tht's thetic nd weird," sid the snooty oys, nd

he rew so nry he would hve lked to sly them nd

ive them hsty uril For he understood tht such

questions were ment only to ry into his irreulr irth,whose wverin outlines everyone lredy knew Tht

he ws nothin ut the secret fruit of Eytin lesure

not even he would hve known hd it not een com-

mon knowlede, however vueknwn ll the wy u

t Phroh, who hd een left s little in the drk outhis child's coquetry s Moses ws out the fct tht con-

temtile, murderous lesure hd turne Rmesses, the

uilder, into his lecheyrndfther Yes, Moses knew

this nd lso knew tht Phroh knew it, nd t tht

thouht he nodded his hed threteninly in the direc-tion of Phrh's throne.

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OR

FTE HE ha ive for two years amon th fos at theen sch, he cud stand t no oner. e made hs

esce over the wa by niht and wandered home to

hs father's bod kn n Goshen Wth a itter fe he

roamed amon them, and one day aon the cana near

amsses' new udns h saw an ytan overser

take his rod and beat one of the aorers, who had ro-

ay been nent or contrary urnn ae an with

ery eyes, he chaene the Eytn who, nstea of v-

in him ny knd of answer, unched in the bride o hs

nose, so that for the rest of hs fe it had a roken, ty

indented bon But Moses seized the ro from th over-

seer, took a mihty swin an crushed the man's sku,

kilin him on the sot He hadn't even oked aroun

t see whether anyone was watchin. But it was a dso-

te ace and no one ese was neary S he hasty ur-

d the sn man ute on hs own, for th feow he hd

defende ha taken to the his; and it semd to hmthat he'd aways had it in mn to say someody an

bury him hasty

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is ery deed remained hidden, at least rom the

Egytians, who never ound out why their man had

not turned u, and days and years assed over the deed

Moses continued to roam amon his ather's eole and

meddled in their disutes with a strane hihhanded-ness. One time he saw two I brim laborers quarreling with

one another, on the brink o coming to blows. Why are

you quarreling and even about to ght?" he said to them.

aven't you sunk low enough? Shouldn't you stand by

your own kind instead o barin your teeth at one an-other? That one is in the wron, I saw it e should give in

and be stil, and the ther one shouldn't lord it over him"

But as soon as he had nished seaking, the two o

them were suddenly united aainst him, sayin, Why

are you interering in our aairs?" The one who had beenound at ault was esecially snotty and said quite loudly,

That's the absolute limit! Who are you to o stickin

your oatnose into thins that don't concern you? Oh

yes, that's riht, you're Mosheh, the son Amram, but

that's nt saying much and nobody really knows whoyou are, not even you. We'd like to know who aointed

you over us as our jude and master Maybe you'd like to

stranle me, too, the way you stranled the Eytian that

time and buried him hastily?"

Be quiet!" said Moses, aalled, and he thouht, owhas that otten around? On the very same day he real-

ized that this country could no longer be his dwellin

6 T H M S M N N


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le, n he rossed the order where it ws not seured,

throuh the mudts ner the Bitter Ses He wndered

throuh mny eserts of the lnd of Sini nd m t

Miin, to the Midinites nd their riestkin, Reuel.

E B L E S F L W 1 7


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FIVE

WHEN HE returned to Egypt, lled with his iscovery oGod nd i misson, ws a man in his prie, surdy,

wth a at ose, prominent cheekbones, a parted beard,

wdeset yes, n broa wristswhich were espeily

obvious whn, as frequenly happened, he was brooding

and covered hs mout ber wth h right had

From hut o hut and from labor site o lbor site went,

and shakig his sts by his thighs he spoke o the Ivs

ble One, he od of his fthers, who ws prepared to

eter ito a covenat. For ll tets a purposes, how

ever, he could not spek, or he ws essentilly bottle up

by natre, ad whe gitated was iclned to have a thick

tongue Furthermore, he wasn' really at hoe in any n

gue ad whe spekg would cas about i three: Ara

aic SyroChldean, which his ther's blod ki spoke

and which he had learned rom his parents, had bee

overlai by Eyptian, whch he hd hd to acqire at

school, nd i additio Midnite Arabic, which he hadspoke or many yers i the desert So he was always

jumblng them up

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Most ef to im s is broter, Aaron, a rny,

ente mn it a back berd and back rinets don

is neck, o iked to kee is are, ronded eyeids

iosy oered Moses ad initited im into every

tin, ad comletey on im over to te idea of tenvisible One nd its imictions, nd since Arn

s b t sek tr is berd it ntos

ency, e say accomanied Mses on is recritment

rnds nd soke in is sted, in a drin oiy mnner,

to e sre, nd not ematicy eno, s tt Msesd try it skin sts to t more re into is

rds nd ften interrted im, iedyiedy, in

ArmiytinArbic

Arns ife s named iseb, te dter of

Ammindb; se to s rty to te vo nd te rand, s s Miriam, yner sister of Mses nd

Aron, n rdnt mn cd sin nd y te tim

bre Bt Moses s eseciy fnd f yn mn o,

for is art, s devted ert nd s to im, is reve

tion, n is ans, nd never ft is side He s ty nmed Hose, te son of Nn i mens s")

f rims cn Bt Mses d iven im te Ye

nme f Yeos, so sortened to Jos, nd e bre

tat name it ridea stritbcked, iry yon mn

it ed f oy air, rominent Adms ae,nd a ir of artiary dee frrs beten is eye

brs, o d is on int of vie abot te e



32/133

thing, ot the religious point o view so much s the mi

itry Yahweh, the Go o his thers, was or oshua the

Go o hosts above al ese, a i his min the thought

o escape out o the house o bonage, which ws inex

triby linke with Gos me, was combine with theconquest o new settlemet reas o their own or the

ebrw tribeswhich ws logil, because they ha to

ive smewhere, n no ln, promise or ot, woul just

be hn over to them.

oshua, s young s he was, carrie ll the pertinentfts in his woolly hea, with its rm, steay gze a he

incessanty iscusse them with Moses, his oler rien

mster. Without hving the wherewith or n

curate enus, he ha estimte tht the strength o the

clns camping in Goshen n resiig i the storagcitiesPithom n Raamses, as well s those clan members scat

ter over the rest o the an as sves, came t approxi

mately twelve or thirteen thousn ha, l in al, which

woul onstitute a weaponsreay orce o approximatey

thre thousn Later the numbers were wiy exaggerte, but oshu ws more or ess right bout them, a

they int suit him t l. Three thousn men ws not a

rtiularly terriying army, ot eve i ou ssume that

one yu were n your way l sorts o relte boo kin

wh were wring aroun in the esert wu join thisueu to nquer the ln You coun't contempte a

serious unertking bse solely on a orce o this ize; to

20 T O M A S A N N


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rely o it to strike ito the Proised Ld wold e ill

dvised osh derstood tht, d for tht reso he

ws tryig to d ple ot i the ope where the lood

ki old rst estlish themselvesd where der

resoly fvorle irstes they old e le togrow t their trl rte for while, whih, if Josh

kew his peple, e to tw d oe hlf er hred

eh yer The yg kept his eye ot for ple

where they old preserve d rote theselv to

irese their rmed fore, d he ofte oslted withMses ot this reveling i the proess tht he h

srprisigly ler grsp of how oe ple relted to n

other in the world, keeping i his hed kind of p of

ptetil trts of ld ordig to their sizes, dylong

mrhes, nd wterig holes, d espeilly the elliosity f their ihitts

Moses kew wht he hd i his osh, kew well

tht he wol hve need of hi, d loved his itet

ess, lthogh its immeite oets di not oner him

h Coverig moth d erd with his right hn,he listeed to the yog s strtegi prononeents

d thoght of other thigs Of orse, Moses, too,

thoght of hweh i oetio with exost

ot siply ilitry pig to oqer ld rther n

exods ito ope ld d ito prtess t et thtsoewhere ot there i the ope he wold hve for hi-

self ll this mss of ewildered esh wverig og vr



34/133

ios radiions, hese proreain en, laain woen,

iplsive yohs, snoynosed hildren, he blood kin o

his aher; ha he wold nlae he wih he holy

invisible God he pre, he spirial one; ha he old

se p his God as heir oleive, orave ener andshae he in is iage They wold e a people dier

en ro all ohers, belonging o God, a people ored

and dened by wha is holy and spirial, isingished

ro all ohers by heir dread orbearane, awe ha is

o say, by heir ear o he hogh o priy, by a ode oresrain whih, sine he Invisible One was aally God

o he whole world, wold bind all people ogeher in he

re, b was rs o be dereed or he an heir a

ere privilege aon he heahens.

This was Moses' any or hs her's blood kin, hisany as a reaor, whih or h was a one wih he

enevolen hoie God had ade and s wiinness o

ener ino a ovenan. Sine he believed ha he ora

ion in God's iage had o ake preedene over all other

venres ha he yong Jsha had in ind, and rherore ha his reqired ie, ree ie o in open land

he dd no mind ha here was sill a hih in osha's

pans and ha hey were syied by he inadeqae n

ber o weaponseady men Josa needed ie so ha

he people old nrease by naal eansand also, byhe way, so ha he, hisel old grow older and e per

22 T O M S N N


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mttd to appont hmslf thr commandr; and Moss

ndd tm for th work of cratng, hh h srd

n th nam of God. And so whl holdng drng vw-

ponts, thy wr n agrmnt.

T E T B E S O T E L W 23


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SIX

EANWHILE HOWEVER, Gos emissy, lon with hisclosest isciples, the eloquent Aon, Elisheb, Miim,

oshu, n one Cleb, who ws the sme e s oshu

n his bosom fien, nothe ston, simple, bve youn

mnmenwhile not one of them wste sinle y in

spein mon hei own the messe of hweh, the

nvisible One n His ttein oe of covennt, while

simultneously fuelin the bitteness t thei wok une

the Egyptin o n isin the ie tht they shoul

shke o this yoke n emigte Ech one i it in his

own wy: Moses himself with hltin wos n shkin

sts, Aon in wlin, uent iscouse, Elisheb with

wheelin chtte, oshu n Cleb like mility com

mnes, in clippe slogns; Miim, who ws soon clle

the pophetess," i it in loftie tone, to timbel ccom

pniment. No i thei semons fll pon h oun;

the thouht of swein leince to Moses' covent

fncyin Go, of eictin themselves to the melessOne s His people n of mitin une Him n His

spokesmn into open ln, took oot mon the tibes

2 4


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an began to for their unifying enterthis was espe

iay so beause Moses proise or rather oere the

hopee expettion tht he wou negotite with

the ost powerfu authorities perission for them to

ee Egypt so tht it wou no he to tke the form of risky uprising but rather ou ow upon an aiabe

greeent They were famiiar if ony auey with his

hafEgyptin birth into the rees they knw bout th

eegant euation he enoye for whie an the rk

retionship that he oane with the ourt Whtone ha been a reason to istrust an rejet hi tht is

his ixe boo an that he ha one foot in gytin i

was now trnsfore into a soure of trust n ent hi

uthority Certiny if anyboy ou he ws the an to

stn before Phraoh an argue their ase. An so theyoissione hi to try to persuae esses bui

n sester to reease thean not ust Mses

but aso his mikbrother Aaron for Moses intene to

take hi ong rst beuse he hisef ou not speak

oherenty an Aaron ou an so beause Aron wsaopishe in ertin seightsofhan whih they

hope wou ke n ipression t ourt to the gory

of ahweh He ou ke a obra sti as r by press

ing on its nek but if he then ast the ro to the groun

it wou ur an transform itsef into serpent" Neither Moses nor Aron ntiipate the fat tht Phraoh's

agiians were aso fiiar wih this ire an tht it

T E T B E S F T E W 25


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wold thereore ot be able to serve as terryng proo o

Yahwehs power.

They had o lck whatsoeverlets say t at oceo

matter how cnngly they preseted the case theyd

pt together wth yog osha ad Caleb ad the warcocl Thy had decded to ask the kg oly or per

mso or the ebrew people to travel three days ds

tace beyod the brder ot to the desert to celebrate a

sacrce to the Lord ther God who had called them, ad

the retr to work They hardly eected Pharaoh to betake by ths et ad beleve that they wold retr

It was oly a getler, mre corteos orm o sbmttg

a plea r emacpaton, bt t ddnt er them ay grat

tde rom the kg.

The brothers dd scceed, however, actally gettgnto the Great oe and ront o Pharaohs throne,

ad ot merely oce, bt through doggedly pertet e

gotatos over ad over aga I ths respect Mse had

ot promsed hs people too ch, or he was cotg o

the act that Ramesses was hs secret lecherygradatherad that each o them kew that the other kew t It e

aled Moses to pt a great deal o pressre o the kg,

ad eve thgh t was ever eogh to wrg rom hm

hs conset t ther eods, t dd make Moses a seros

egotator ad gaed hm repeated access to the powerl ma, who eared hm A kgs ear s dageros, o

corse, ad all ths tme Moes was playg a rsky game

2 6 OAS M A NN


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e ws brvehow brve he ws nd wht n impression

he mde on his people, we shll see very soon It would

hve been esy for messes to hve him strngled qu

etly nd hstiy buried, so tht in the end rely nothing

would be eft of his chids sensul whim But te priness retined sweet memory of tht ltte hour nd did

not wnt ny hrm to come to her oy of the reedshe

stood under her protetion, howevr ungrtefully he re

sponded t her eorts on his behl her plns fr his edu-

ction nd promotinSo Mses nd Aron were permitted to stnd efre

hro, but he roundy denied their reust for s-

ri ody out in open lnd to wh their God d

llegedy cled their people It ws no use tt Aron

spoke with untuus oherene while Moes ssintelyshook his sts by his thighs or did it hel tht Arn

turned his rod into serpent, for hrohs mgiins

id the sme thing on the spot, thereby provng tht the

nvisible ne, in Whose nme te two were speng,

ought t be orded no remrkbe powers nd tt roh didnt hve to listen to the voie of ths ord f we

dont mke three dys journey into the widerness nd

prepre fest for the ord, our tribes will be visited by

pestilence or the sword," sid the brothers But th king

nwered, Tht does not oncern us You re numerousenough, more thn tweve tousnd strng, nd you n

ertiny ber some redution, whether throug pesti

E T B L E S O T E L W 27


40/133

lene or the sword or harsh work. You Moses and Aaron

you only want to inulge your people in idleness and give

the respite from the ervie they owe me. I annot tol

erate that and will not allow it. I ave several faulous

temles in the works and also want to uild a thrd treasurety esides Pithom and aamses to add to those

tw and for that I need te arms of your people. I tank

you r your alypresented proposal and you Moses I

even smiss you in seial favor willynilly. ut no more

t of lidays in te desert!"Thus was the audiene termnated and not only did

noting god ome of it but denite evil ame of it after

war. For Pharaoh onded in his hunger for uildings

and annoye that he ould not very well strangle Moses

ause if he did his aughter would make a senerdered that the Goshenpeople e given a workload

even arsher tan efore an that they not e spared the

rod if they were slak lt them have plenty to do so that

they would work until they dropped and all their idle

tughts of desert festivals for their god would disapearAnd that's what happened. eause Moses and Aaron had

soken efore Pharaoh te laor grew harsher frm one

day t the net. No lnger did the eople reeive delv

ery of the straw to e burned in their briks for eam

ple now they had to go to the stubleelds themselvesto gather the neessary straw. Yet the number f briks

to e manufatured was not redued for that reason the

2 8 T O M A S M A N N


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same qta had t be led r ese the rd wd dnce

n the pr mens bcks. n vin did the Hebrew remen

spervising the peple cmpain t the thrities bt

nreasnabe demands The answer was, Yre ide, idle

is what y are, and thts why y cry t nd sy, Wewant t leave here and celebrate a sacrice. Bt the rdr

stands: yll keep getting the strw yrselves nd yl

keep making the sme nmber of briks"

T E TA B L E S O T E LAW 29


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SEVEN

foR M nd Aro this ws no s ebrrssent The oreen sid to the There o hve it

Tht's or rewrd or the ovennt with or God nd

r Moses' onnetions. A o've done is int s in the

presee of Phroh nd his en nd pt the sword into

their hnds to destro s"

There ws not h to be sid in response, d

Moses hd soe diut rivte hors with the God o

the burnin bsh s he donished i tht he Moses

hd een ded se is kin on this mission ro the

srt tht he hd sked i rih o to send none ese

js no hi sine he ws so inrtite Bt the Lord

hd swered hi ht Aron er ws eoqent

Yes o orse e hd done he tkin bt in h too

oi nner nd it jst went to show how preposter

os it ws to tke on se i o orse hve thik

tonue nd hve o et other peope step in nd spek

or o Bt ro withi hi the God omorted ndreked him nd nswered ht he shod be shed

o his int her; his exss were pre ettion or

3 0


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at bottom he himsel had bee itchig or the call, sice

he acied his people ad a chace to shape them just

as much as the God did, act, ad you cot rely

stguh hs ow acy rom that o the God's at al,

rather it was at oe with it it was a god's acy that haddrve hm to the task, ad he should be ashamed to ose

heart at the rst deeat

oses acepted this, d all the more because i the

war oucil with Joshua, Caleb, Aaro, ad the rdet

wome, they had coluded that the crese opresso, however muh bad blood t mht geerte, ws

upo loser ispetio ot such a terrble rst resut;

or it ws creatg bd blood ot oly towrd oses but

bove a toward the Egypts, ad t wou make th

peope all the more receptive to the all o th vorGodad the thought o a exodus to ope lad Ad thus it

was; the agtto about the straw ad brks grew amog

the aborers, ad the reproah that oses had tated

them d doe them othig but harm reeded behid

the wish that Amrm's so might exploit his coectiosgai ad go oe more to Pharoh or their sake

Ad that he dd, this tme ot wth Aro, but aloe,

whatever his togue might do; he shook his sts beore

the throe ad demaded i halti blurted words the

exodus o hs pope to the ope, der the ame o sacricial estival i the desert Ad he did this, ot one

time oly, but maybe eve te, or oses' coectios

E TA B L E S O T E L AW 3 1


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were so ood that Pharaoh cold t very well dey h

access to hs throe There olded a strle doed

ad protracted betwee h ad the kg ever leadn

t s tre to the latter's aree to Moses' dead bt

stead to oe e day whe rather tha releas thethe Eyptas pshed ad drove the oshepeople ot

o ther lad jst ld the ed to be rd o the.

Abot ths strle ad the pressre exerted o the

stborly resstat k drg the corse o t there

has bee ch chatter ot wthot soe hstorcalderps t stroly characterzed by ebellsh-

met There's talk o the te plaes that Yahweh vs

ted pon the Eyptans oe ater the other n orer to

wear Pharaoh down whle at the sae te nteto-

ally harde Pharaohs heart aanst Moses' appeal sothat e wold have a chace to deonstrate s power

wth ever ew plages. Blood ros ver wld a-

als bols pestece hal locsts darkess an death

o the rstborthose were the te plaes ad oe

o the wold be mpossble bt t s a ope qestowhether wth the excepton o the last one (whch was

a especally obsre case ever really cleared p) they

scatly aected the al otcoe There are cod-

tos der whch the Nle takes o a bloodred color ts

water becoes teporarly drkable and the sh deSh ths happe jst as the ros o the swap ds

proportoately crease ber or the everpreset

32 T O M A S M A N N


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ice ppate to a eve tht woud appoch an inest

tion And thee wee sti ot o ions aound too om

in at the ede o the deset and ukin in the junes y

the diedup ive hnnes and i the nume o apa

cious ttacks on man nd est ineased you coud oahead nd cal it a paue And aent scies an ois

comon in the nd o Eypt and how esiy miht not

evi bains ise up out o unninss nd ete s pesti

ne mon th peope? The sky is usuy ue in those

pts and thus the moe deep n impessin wouda ae vint thundestom mke when e descend

in om the couds omines with dense pebbes o

hi poundin the cops nd thashin the tees even i

it wee not onnecte to ptiu intent Locusts a

toomii uests n mnkind hs inventd vious means o scin nd wadin them when thy

ppoach en msse thouh thei avenousness os

win out in the end so tht entie ds e educe to

nwedown baness And nyone who hs eve expei

enced the anxious omy mood spad ov the eath y osmicy shaded sun wi undestnd quite we that

pepe pamped y iht woud ive suh n eipse th

nme pue"

And with tht the nume o epoted evis is at n

end o the tenth one the dth o the ston doesnot actuy eon in this count but constitutes n am

iuous ypodut o the exous itse unanny in its

T E T B L E S O T E L W 33


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etals Perhaps only soe o the other oes happene

orstribute over a longer pero o tmeperhaps all

o the we rell ust conser ther names as nothng

ore than ebroier crculocutons or the one s

le pressure that Moses lways use ast Raesses

that s the act tht Pharoh was his lecherygrana

ther an that Moses ws in poston to brocast this

aroun More thn once, the kng was about to cve n

to ths pressure t the least, he de gret oncessions.

He woul perit the en to leve or the scrcil estvl, but the woen, chlren an hers woul have

to rein behin. Moses not ccept that: young n

od sons nd ughters sheep n ctte ll ust leve

or ths concerne a estival or the Lor Then Ph

roh woul perit woen an osprng too, excluing only the livestock whh ws to rean behn as

olteral. ut where, Moses dened were they to

get their buthere n burnt oerngs or the estvl

they in't hve their livestock with them? Not one hoo

could sty behin he nsstewhch de it very clerhe wsn't talkin about holy but an exous.

The hooves resulte in a lst stormy scene between

the gypti majesty an ahweh's eissary Durng

the whole neotiton Moses ha shown great patene,

but stshkin choler also lay wthin hs nature Fnlly Pharaoh reache hs lmt n literally chse hm

rom the room Out!" he crie An tke cre that yo

34 T O A S M A N N


47/133

never come before me gin Otherwise it will men

your deth," whereupon Moses, who ws still very gi

tted, grew completly clm nd nswered simply, ou

hve spoken m going nd wil not come bfore you

gin" As he took his leve with such feru serenity, histhoughts turned to things tht were not rey to hi lik

ing They were, however, to te liking of young oshu

nd Cleb

T E T B L E S O T E LW 35


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IGH

THIS IS rk pter c cn nly be relte n frgmente vele pre Tere cme y r rter

ngt grm veer r en Ye ent but r

ngel f et n vte te tenth plue upn

te lren f Egypt r rter rtn f em te

Egytn element mng te nbnt f Gen

ell f te te f Ptm n Rme le mt

tn n rng te ut n e he rpt

ere mere t bl nl

Wt d e ? e et n mtn yn te yng f

te rtbrn mn te Egyptn element n by n

e fulle mny ecret n elpe mny ec

nbrn t cme nt n metn tt ultere ve been ene m Plee nte te tnc

tn beteen Yeh n h nel f eth: t etble

tt t nt Ye hmelf ent but but n

fct ngel f ethmre precely crefully en

t nel u hever yu nt t reuce tem t ngle mnfettn tere ren t tnk f Y

e' ngel f et trgtbcke gure f yut

3 6


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wit ed of wooy i, pominent Adm's ppe,

n eep fows etween is eyows, n ne om

tt stin tt wys ejoices wen yo've pt n end to

seess neotitions nd cn poceed to ction

Tee d een no ck of peptions fo decisive cts din oses' tencios neotitions wit P-

oh: s fo oses imsef, they d een conned to his

secety sendin is wie nd sons ck to idin, to his

oteinw eto, in ntiiption of dict events to

ome, so s not to e dened wit woies ot tem.Bt os, wose etionsip to oses ws nmistk-

y simi to tt of te ne o det to Ywe, d

ted in is own sion, nd sine e di not possess te

mens no yet te epttion to moiize nde his com-

mnd tose tee thosnd eodied oodcomdes,e d t est seeted sqd fom tem, d med,

ie, nd disipined tem so tt they co hiee

sometin om te stt.

Wt ppee ten is sode in dknessin the

dkness o tht vespe nit tt the ien of Eyptsw s nit of ceetion fo te on sves w

ived mon tem t seemed tt tese sves wnd to

mke p o te vetoed scici festiv i te deset

with nten festiv to tei od, compete wit n-

qet, it ee t ome, nd tey d even oowedod nd sive vesse fo it om tei yptin nei-

os Howeve, comined wit tis event, o te, in

T E TAB L E S O E L W 37


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sea o it tha angel o eah went abo an n evey

omiile tha a bndle o hyssop ha not smeaed wh

bloo he sbon ied Ths vsiaon bogh with it

sch geat consion sch a suen evesal o he ela

ionships o law an enilemen hat om one hou ohe ne he oa o o the lan not only soo open o

Moses' people b hey ee viually oce ono i an

ouln' ake i quickly enogh to si he Egypans

atally oes seem tha the seconbon wee less eage

o avenge he eah o hose whose plae hey took hanhey wee to ge he people who case hei elevaion

to clea ot

Accoing o aiion his enh plage ha nally

boken Phaaoh's pide so that he ha elease he bloo

kin o Moses' ahe om thei bonage He i howeve pomply send a ivision o hs amy in psuit o

the escapees hogh it maclosly came o a ba en

Be hat as i may the emigaion ook on he om o

an eplsion an he hase wih which this happene

is ecode in this eail: No one ha time o eaven thebea o he ouney; hey ol pove only hose

a cakes o aicion ha Moses atewa une ino

a commemoaive celebaoy cstom o all me Fo

he es all o them bg an small ha been compleely

eady o se o Even as he angel o eah went abouhey ha sa net o hei loae cas hei loins ge

hei shoes aleay on hei ee thei walkngstas in

38 T O M A S A N N


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their hnds They brought long the gold nd silver ves-

ses they hd borrowed from the los

My friends At the exodus out o Egypt there ws

both killing nd steling t ording to Moses rm

will it ws to be for the lst time How should mn wresthimsef from impurity without mking one lst s

rie to it nd polluting himself thoroughly in the pro-

ess? Moses now hd the inrnte objet o his retive

fny this formless umnkind is ers od in

fee in open nd, nd reedom or him ws the relm osntition

T E T B L E S O T E L W 39


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NIE

THE WANDERING mss o peopler ewer in its hedcount thn wht leend would clm, but diicult

enough to mne, to control, nd to eed, sciently

hevy burden on the shoulders o the mn responsible

or their te, or thir survivl out in the opentook the

rote tht utomticlly presented itsel i (or goo r

son) they were to void the ortitios tht egn on

the Eytin border, north o the itter Ses This route

le through the reion o the slt ses into ih the

lrer, westernmost rm o the Red S ows, shpin

the lnd o the Sini into peninsul Moses knew this

territory, hvng pssed through it on his iht into Mid

in nd his return thence More thn the young oshu,

whose only mp ws mentl one, Moses ws milir

with its contours, te nture o those reedy mudts,

whih t times ormed the itter Ses open connection

to the ul nd through which, under certn conditions,

one could rech the lnd o Sini dryshod For i stronest wind ws blowing nd the ses were driven bck, the

mudts oeed open pssgend thnks to Yhwehs

40


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54/133

ter or us to have served the Egptias tha to die b the

sword i the wilderess! Moses heard this a thousad

times, ad it eve embittered him about ther rescue,

whh tured out to be overwhelg He was the ma

Moses, who led us out o Egpt"whch meat souts opraise as log as everthig was oig well ut i ths

wet badl, t quickl took o a dieret toe ad meat

a grumbl reproach that was ever ver ar rom the

thught o a stoig

The, ater a sort perio o alar, thigs took aembarrassgl d ubelievabl good tur Moses stood

tere, ver regal troug ve mracle, a was the

ma, who le us out Egpt"w eat te other a

rou agai The blood ki pus through the draed

mudats, te Eptia arm chasi behd them ither charits Sudel the wid des ow, the tide re

turs, ad me ad steeds pers urgli i te eul

ig waters

t was a uparalleled triumph Miriam, the prophet

ess, Aaros sister, sa to her tmbrel, leadi the womei their sigig ad dacig: Sig uto the orda glr

ous deedthe horse ad his riderath He throw ito

the sea" She had writte ths hersel ou must imagie

it sug to timbrel accompaimet

The people were deepl oved The words might,"hol," terriig," admirable," ad miracleworkg"

issued edlessl rom their lips, ad it was uclear



55/133

whethe they wee itended f the gdhead f

Mses, Gds head a, whse d, they assued had

bught the dwig dwates dw up Egypt's

fces was easy t get the tw cfused Wheneve

te pepe weent gbg abt hi, Mses wyshad his hands fu tyng t keep the f thnkng

that he hsef was a gd, the ne he ws paing

T E B L E S O T E L W 43


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TN

n EALLY that wasn't so ridiulous, or wht he wasbeginnin to expet o these poor souls went r beyond

te huan norm nd ould hrdly hve originated in the

mind of a ort t mde your jw drop to think about it

Ater Miri's sining and daning, he imediately r-

bde any rther rjoiin t the Eyptins' deise e

prlied: Evn Yhweh's heavenly ries had been

bout to join in the vitory song, but the oly One re

buked theWht's this? My reatures drown in the

se and you wnt to sing" e spred this short, but as

tonishing story round nd added, Thou shlt not re-

joie at the all o thine enemy; let not your hert be la

at his isortune" t was the rst time tht the entire

horde, twelve thousnd nd a ew hundred hed o the,

inluding the three thousnd ablebodied men, hd been

appeled to with thou," that or o address whih en-

opassed their totaity and at the sae tme traned an

eye n eh o the, man and woan, young nd old, as

if pking a nger in the hest of every one Thou shat

rais no ries f joy at te fall o thine eney" Tat was

44


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positively unntul But obviously tis unntulness

ws onneted to te invisibility o Moses Go wo

wnted to be their God It begn to dwn on the moe

let membes o te brown ode wt tt ment nd

ow mysteious nd llenging it ws to ve swon lle-gine to n invisible god

Tey wee in te lnd o Sini moe peisely in

te wildeness o Su n uniendly tein tt tey

would leve only to rive in nte ust s lmentle

the wildeness o Pn Why tese wildernesses ddient nmes is mystey tey utted one noter

in tei idness te sme used oky eds wt

out wter or vegettion extending in line o dd ills

s long s tee dys ouney nd even ou nd ve It

ws good ting tt Moses d so quikly inused teespet oded im t te Se o Reds wit tt supe

ntul dimension o ow ll o sudden e ws gin

tis mn Moses wo ld us out o Eypt wi mnt

wo bougt misotune upon us nd loud gum

bling ssulte is es Ate tee dys te wte teyd bougt bme tikle Thousnds were tirsting

te relentless sun on their eds nd unde tei eet te

ben desotion o te wilderness o Suri it wsnt

by now te wildeness o Pn Wt e we to drn?

tey ied loud sowing no sensitivity to te sungo tei lede unde te weigt o is esponsibility He

wised tt e lone would dink nting nevr gin

T E T B L E S O E L W 45


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hve ythig to drik i oly hy ight hve soe-

thig so tht he did't hve to her their hy did yo

ke s leve Egypt?" To ser loe is sll goy o-

pred ith tht hvig to ser or sh horde d

Moses s very brdeed d sted tht yever ter brdeed bove ll e o erth

Very soo there s't thig let to et either or

ho log old the hstily pked tbred hold ot?

ht re e to et?" This r resoded o to sob-

big d soldig d Moses hd soe difilt pri-vte hors ith God e he doished im or is

hrshess i hvig lid the brde o this etire people

po hi is srvt Am I the o ho oeivd d

bore ll these people" he sked so tht o sy to e

Crr the i yor rs' here I to et the oodto give ll these people? They re eepig beore e d

syig Give s et so tht e et!' I ot rr

so y oe It is too hrd r e Ad i tht's the y

Yo t to tret e plese strge e isted so tht I

do ot hve to itess y isorte d theirs"Ad Yheh did ot leve hi opletely i the

lrh As or ter o the th dy hile rossig

high plte the spotted treeied sprig hih

by the s lso mrked s the Sprig o Mrh o

the p tht osh rried i his hed Its ter tstedo it's tre de to plest ditres eliitig bit

ter disppoitet gret ves o grmbig Bt



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Moses me invenive by necessiy ppie kin of -

ering evie a kep back e nasy impriies i no

enirey a les in goo mesre n so performe a

kin of springmirce ransforming e ocries ino

ceers an greay eping o resore is repion eprase wo e s o of Egyp" once gin oo on a

rosy connoion

As for foo ere occrre ye aner mirce

wic a rs rigere oyf mzemen. For i rne

o rge res of e wierness o Prn were ov-ere wi icen a one co e mannien sg-

ary felike sbsance ron n sml ike corianer

sees in pperance n ike beim in coor spoie

qicky an begn o smell ba if i wsn een rig

awy b oerwiseron beaen r prepre s s-ckesi ws qie oerbe in pin sing mos ike

wfers wi oney some peope si n ers sai ike

oike

was e rs posiive men b i in

s Soon even afer s few ys e peope eng of e nn n were ire of ing p on i

As eir ony norismen i qicy beme repgnan

an nasee em so ey compine Were

rememberin e a we c e r ree n gy

e pmpkins mrrow sqa eeks onions an gar-ic B now or sos are weary for or eyes see noing

bu mnn."

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That's what Moses head to his pai, aog with

the peditable questio hy did you make us eave

Egypt" ht he asked Gd ws hat sould I do with

these peope They do't wat to eat maa aymoe

Just wat You'll see eoe log they' l be stoig me"

48 T O M S M N N


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LV

WAS moe o ess poteted om tht te thnks tohis sie Yehosh nd the med sd he h th

eed toethe in Goshen whih sonded the ie

to s soon s ny thetenn mes epted mon

the e Fo the moment it ws sm sq o yon

men wth Ce s etennt t osh ws st wt

in o n oppotnity to estish himse s ommnde

nd hmpion in ode to det the eoded men

thee thosnd o them odin to his w And he

knew tht ths oppotnty ws mminent

Moses ety ved the yon mn whm h hd

desinted with the nme o God; wtht hm he

wod sometimes hve een qite ost Moses ws si

t mn nd his mnness stdy nd ston s it ws

with his wists s od s stoneve's ws spiit

n intoveted mniness estned nd eey ed

p y God emoved om the wod onened ony

with the hoy th kind o itheness tht ontstedstney with his s oodn medittions when he

oveed his moth nd bed with his hnd he hd on

49


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ned ll hs houghts nd deeds to setng hs her's

blood kn pr or hmsel lone n order o shpe t nd

o crve unhndered holy me o God ou o he hope

less mss tht he loved. e hd orred not t ll or only

lle bout he dngers o reedom the dcules ohe desert or he queson o ho so mny rbble ere o

be brought hrough t nc or even bou where o tke

those people An he s n no wy prepre or prccl

ledershp So he could only be greul to hve oshu t

hs sde ho or hs prt revered the sprul mnlnessn oses nd unreservedly pu hs on strghtbked

utterly extrovered youthul mnlnss hs dsposl

t ws hnks o oshu th hey ctully se orh n

the deser th rm objectve nd ddn' wer hem

selves out n mless wnderng. e determned the drecton or ther mrch by the strs clulted he dylong

mrhes nd took cre tht hey ould rech he wter

ng plces n berble somemes only just berble

ntervls I s he who hd gured out ht hey could

e the round lchen In ord he proteed hs mster'sreputton s lder nd s o th he phrse ho

led us ot Egypt" whenever t h beome grum

blng ook on s ludory sense gn e hd the des

nton clerly n hs hed nd gued by h srs n

greemen h ses he seered tord by he shorest wy possble. For he o oncurred bou needng

rs desnon xed lso emporry ccommod

O M A S M A N N


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tion, a dwelling plae where they old live omfortably

and gain some time, in fat mh time: party in Josh-

a's mind) so that the people od mltiply and provide

him as he matred with a greater nmber of abebodied

res, party in Moses' mind) so tht he old, above a,nally shape the horde toward the image f Go and hew

frm it something deent and hly, a pre reation, dedi

ated to the Invisible Onethis is what his spirit and his

wrists were raving

The destintion was the oasis of Kadesh. Jst as thewilderness of Sr abtted the widerness of aran so the

latter abtted the widerness of Sin n the sothbt

not everywhere and not diretly. omewhere i btwn

lay the oasis of Kadesh, by ontrast a delihtfl plain, a

green brething spae in the arid land, with three rbstsprings and a nmber of smaller nes, t, a day's jr

ney long and haf a day's wide, dotte wit freh astres

and farmland, an aring streth of and rih in animas

and vegetation and lrge enogh t shelter and norish

headont ie theirs.Yehosha nw abt this ttrtive little iee of

land, whih was very learly mared on the map he ar

ried in his mind. Moses new bt it, too, bt the fat

tht they hose Kadesh as their destination nd heade

o for it was Josha's oing Here was his opportnityA pearl sh as Kadesh, of orse, did not jst sit there

withot an owner, that goes withot saying. t was in

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rm hadsbut ot too rm, Joshua was hopig If they

wated to have it, they would have to ght for it agaist

the ma who cotrolled it, ad that ma was Amalek

Some of the Amale kite cla had possessio o Kadesh

ad would defed it Joshua made it clear to oses thatthere would have to be a war, a attle betwee ahweh

ad Amalek, eve if it should result i a eteral emity

betwee them, from geratio to geeratio They had

to hae the oasis; it was the perfect space for growth as

well as for sacticatiooses was dubious He believed that oe of the impli-

atios of ods ivisibility was that you shouldt covet

yur eighbors huse, ad he reproahed hs dscple

to this et ut the latter aswered that adesh was

t Amaleks house, ad if he kew all about space heaso kew all about tims past, ad he kew that previ

ousl f curse he uld say whe adesh ha bee

ihated b Hebrew people, blood ki, descedats of

their father, who had bee scattered by the Amalekites

Kadesh had bee robbed from them, ad what had beerobbed could be robbed back

oses doubted that, but he ha his ow reasos for

thikig that Kadesh was atually ahwehs territory ad

should be accorded to those who were i coveat with

aheh It wast just because of its atural charms thatKadesh was amed as it was, that is to say, Satuary"

a certai sese it was the sactuary of th idiaite

5 2 T O M A S M A N N


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Yahweh, whom Moses had reognized as the God of his

fathers Not fa away, towa the east and toward Edm

in a line of other montains, lay Mont Hoeb, whih

Moses had visited from Midian and on hose slpe the

God had revealed Himsel to hi in a brning bshHoeb, the montain, was Yahwehs seatone o them,

at least. His original seat, Moses kne, was ont Sinai,

in the montain range that lay towad the deep midday

Bt between Sinai and Hoeb, te site of Moses om

missioning, there was a lose onnetion. After all, Yah-weh sat pon both of them: yo old eqate them, yo

old all Horeb Sinai too, and Kadesh was name as

it was bease, loosely spaking, it lay at the foot of te

holy mont

Fo that reason, Moses agreed to Joshas plan and lethim prepare for Yahehs ampaign against Amalek.

T E TA B E S O F T E AW 53


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W VE

TH BATTL took placethis is an historical atan itwas a very icult battle, seesawing back an rth Bu

Israel emerge triumphant Moses actually conerre tis

name, Israel, which means o wages war, on his bloo

kin bere the bttle, to give them strength, explaining

tat it was a very old name that had simply allen into

oblivion; even acb, the patriarch, ha taken it an calle

his people by it. This served the bloo kin well: however

losely their tribes had been connecte, they were now

all called Israel and tey out united under tis elli

cose name, asemble in battle ranks and led by oshua,

the commaning young man, and Caleb, his lieutenant.

The Amalekites ha ha no oubts about what the

approah o this mass o wanering people meant; ap

proaches like that can mean only one thing. Without

waiting r an attack on the oasis, they ha come out into

the esert in ull rce, larger than Israel in their num

bers, an better arme, too, an ami highswirling ust,turmoil an battle cries, the struggle ensue. oshuas

people suere an ade isavantage, being tormente

5 4


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by trst and or many days avng eaten ony mnna.

But s recompense tey ad osua, the young mn th

te stragt gaze, ho directed their movements, and

tey ad Moes, te mn o Go

At te begnnng o te skrmis, Moses tdrealon t Aron, s halbroter, and Mram, te

propetess, to a l ro h they oud ovrook

t btteed His mnness s not o rke sort

Rter, t s presty unton n everyone red

thout hesttion tat ts one oul e is unton) to lt up arms and cal upon od in nenry

rases, or exmple, Rse up, Yeh, beore te myr

ds, bore sre's tousnds, so tt Your eneies ds

perse, so tht Your ters ee rom Your vge"

Tey dd not ee nd tey dd not dsers, or tydd, ony nearby nd qute teporary; or toug

t s true tat sre as nrged by thrst n surit o

mnna, tere ere more o Amleks myrads, and tr

a pssng oss o nerve ty kpt dvnng, t tes dan

gerousy ose to te ookout i. But t proved true itout exeption tt as ong s Moses kept s rms rsed

n pryer tord eaven, Isre prevaed, tou e

et s arms snk don, ten Amek oud trump.

For tat reson, and beause e coud not keep s arms

rased uninterruptedy on is on, both Aron and Mrim supported under s armpts and lso grbbed

onto s rms so tat tey oud stay up You n mg

T E TA B E S O T E AW 55


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ine ht tht entiled y reckonin tht the bttle lsted

from morning until ening, in ll of hich time Moses

hd to mintin his pinful posture You see ho hrd

it cn be for spiritu mnliness up on its pryerhl

certnly hrder thn for the men ho slug it out donbelo in te fry

Nor could they keep it up the hole dy ln no

nd then his compnions hd to loer te mster's rms

fr moment, but tht lys cost the Yeh ghters

mu blood nd dtress So his supporters hoisted hisrms gin nd the peole don belo gined ne our

ge t the sight They lso proted fro their commnder

Yehoshu's tlent in ledn the bttle to fvorble con

lusion He s strtegic youn rrior ith ides nd

obectives ho thought up mneuvers tht ere copletely ne unherd of to tht point in time t lest in

the iderness nd he s lso ommnder ith nerves

strong enough to tolerte temporry bndonment of

terrtory.

He gthered selection of his best forces, the ngelsof deth, t the right in of his enemy, pressed tord

it decisively, repelled t nd climed victory t this posi

tion, lthough Amlek's min force menhile enoyd

gret dntge over Isrel's rnks storin hed nd

innng lot of territory from them ut by mens of hisbrekthrough on their nk Yehohu reched Amlek's

bck obliging hi to turn tord hi hile t the sme

5 6 O M A S M A N N


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time ghting Isrels min forces which hd lmost been

dted but were now dvncing gin with new energy

All this cused Amlek to lose his he nd depir of his

mission Trechery!" he crid All is lost! oe no more

or victory! Yhweh is bve us god of fthomless per-dy!" And with this despiring ormultion mlek let

the swrd sink from his hnds nd ws cut down

Only few f his pepl were ble to ee t the north

where they were reunitd wit teir in n Isrl

however moved into the osis f Kdesh whih provedt be trversed y wide rushing brook lined with seed

bering shrubs nd fruit trees nd lled with bees song

birds quils nd hres The childrn of Amlek w

were le in the settlments incresed the number f Isr

els desendnts Amlks wen becme wives ndmidservnts o Isrel

T E TA B L E S O T E L AW 57


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HIR

LTHOUGH HS ARMS contined to pin him for ontime, Moses ws hppy mn e so remined mch

brdened one, bove men on eth, s wi be shwn

Bt for now he ws vey hppy bot the wy things were

prgressing he emigrtion hd been sccess, Ph-

hs venging frces hd drowned in te Se o Reeds,

the jrney in the widerness hd one o smoothy, nd

with Yhwehs he the btte for Kdesh hd ended in

victory. e stod there beore his thers bod kin,

reg in the recognition o his sccess, s the mn Moses,

who ed s ot o Egypt," nd tht ws wht he needed

to begin the work he rvedthe work of prifying nd

shping in the nme f the nvisibe One, of driing, chip-

ping wy, nd forming esh nd bood e ws try

py nw to hve this esh set prt for him in open

nd, in the osis ced Snctry t ws his wrkhop

e showed the peope the montin tht ws visi-

be mong the other montins cross the desert est ofKdes oreb, which cod so be ced Sini, ticky

bestrewn with bshes twothirds of the wy p, nd bre

5 8


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on top Ywes set Suc desgnton seemed pu

sbe for t was a strnge mountan dstngsed from

ts ssters by an unmovng coud tt ay above ts peak

ke a roo And we t appered gray by y t ngt t

gowed t was tere so te peope erd n te busysope of te mountan beow ts roky pek tt Y-

we d spoken to Mses out f te burnng bs nd

d mmssoned m to ead tem out f Egypt Tey

erd bout t wt fer nd trembng for ty were nt

yet capbe f awe nd reverence n trut of tmeven te gryberds woud wys wobbe t te knees

ke ysterca nnnes wenever ses pntd ut te

mountn wt te perpetu ud nd nformd m

tt ts ws te ome of a Gd wo tken fny

to tem nd wnted to be ter soe o kng ssts Moses sed tem bout ter cre evr nd

gmey mde t s cncern t grd tem r cosr re

tonsp wt Yawe by estbsng srne r Hm

rgt tere n ter mdst rgt n Kes

For Ywe d romng preenets ke somuc ese ws reated to Hs nvsbty e st upon

Sn He st pon Horeb and nw rdy tey en-

sconced temseves tte n te Amektes sette

ments before Moses creted a ome for Hm n Kdes

n a tent ner s own w e ad te meetng tentor gaterng tent and so te tberne nd were e

used oy obects as ds fr worspng te mgeess

T E T B L E S O T E LAW 59


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ne. They wee pimiy hings h Moses emem

bed nd boowed om he ul o he Midinie Yh

weh: kind o hest bove ll wih ying poles on

which oding to Moses (nd he hd o know) he

godhed ws enhoned invisible nd whih you ouldtke long ou to the eld nd y beoe you ino b

le hould Amlek o exmple y o close in on them

nd tke evnge. An ion od with sepen's hed lo

dubbed the Ion Sepent ws soed nex o he k o

commemoe Aon's wellinended ik beoe Phoh bu lso with the dded symbolism o being he od

tht oses hd exended ove he Se o Reed to mke i

pt. Espeilly howve he Yhwehtent shelteed he

soled ephod he tosingpouch om which png

Uim nd Thummim the lots o the ocles yes ono ih o wong good o evilwheneve diult

humnly unsolvle dipute ed hem t ppel di

etl to Yhwehs bition.

n the disputes nd legl quesions th opped up

mng the people it ws usully Moses himsel whojudged in Yhwehs plce. In he s thing he did in

Kdesh ws o esblish tibunl whee he settled dis

pute on ein dys nd dministeed jtice: hee

t he oue o he most bundn sping whih hd

lwys been lled MeMeibh th is o sy itigion Wes" thee he dminiseed jusie nd le i ow

om him in holiness he wy the wte spng om the



73/133

erth. Cosiderig however tht he loe hd jdicl

thority over totl of twelve thosd ve nred

sos we cn pprecite te brden he d to crry

Since jstice ws somethg qite new to te bn

doned nd lost bloo kin who ntil now h hry evenkow tht it existed the more jstice seekers cme

rshing cotilly to his spring site Thre thy rne

rst tht jstice ws directly connected to nd prtectd

by the ivisibility of God nd His holiess bt scond

tht t lso encompssed injstice someting t took terbble ng tme to comprehend or thy togt tht

nywere tht justice ws owing everybody wod ve

t hve jstice on teir se. At rst tey nt wnt to

elieve tht somene cold lso receive jstice by being

jdged i the wrog nd hving t snk o dsppitdSch person mght well rgrt tht he hnt sttld his

dispte by foowing erlier methds by mens of stone

in the st whch mht hve e to drent otcoe.

Oly wth gret eort dd h lern from Moses tt ths

wod hve chenged God's invsbilty n tht no onwhom jstce hd jdged wrog shol slk o disp

poted for i its holy invisibility jstice ws bot be

tifl d digied whether it jdged yo right or wrong

o Moes d not ony to dnste jstce bt so

to tec jstice n ws mch brdend n s Thebnbordng school he hmself hd stded lw Egyptin

legl scros nd th codex of Hmmrbi te kng by te

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75/133

FOURTN

o TT RESON t ws get stoke o luk tt sbotenlw eto om Mdn pd m vst n

Kdes nd oed m pee o good dve w

gven s onsentous selelne e would not ve

dsoveed on s own Soon te s vl n t oss

Moses d equested tt s botbymge send

bk to m s we ppo nd s two sons w

d been selteed n etos tent down n Mdn u

ng te gyptn tbultons. And Jeto ws ood

enoug to ome msel to nd ove we n sns pe

sonlly to embe Moses tke look oun n e

om m ow eveytng d gone

He ws potly eeul sek wt geul det

gestues mn o te wold pne o vlzed soly

sopstted people Welomed wt get eemony

e took up lodgng wt Moses n s tent nd ed not

wtout mzement ow one o s own gods ndeed

te nvsble one wouldnt you know t) d done soextemely well o Moses nd s people nd ow e d

mnged to esue tem om te nd o te gytns

63


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Who would have thought he sad Appaently hes

geate than we supposed and what youe telling me

makes me nclned to woy that weve been emss n

ou attentons thus a ll make sue that we too accod

him geate hono n the utueFo the ollowng day Moses scheduled public bunt

oengs something he aely d He ddnt thnk espe

cially much o oings; they weent vtal he said

beoe e nvsble Oneand othes the people o the

wold wee in the habit o peoming them Yahwehhad sad Obey my voce above all else that is the voce

o my sevant Moses and then shall be you God and

you My people u n ths ocasin thee wee buth

eed and bunt oeings both o Yahwehs savoing

and to celebate Jethos aval The ollowing day ealyin the monng Moses took his bothebymaiage

alng to the tgaton Wates so that he could attend

cout o a day and see how Moses sat n judgment

ove his people who stood aound hm om monng

untl evening Thee was n hope o gettng thoughit all

Now beg you o heavens sake my dea bothe

nlaw sad the guest as he let the tibunal with Moses

look at how youe budening yousel Sitting thee

alone and eveyone and is bothe standing aound youom monng until evening Why ae you dong that?



77/133

ave to," answered Moses e peope come to me

so tat jde between eac one and s nebor and

sow tem Gods jstce and Hs aws."

Bt my dear eow, ow can anyone be so pess"

sad Jetro n repy s tat te way to overn Does arer ave to drve mse so ard by don everytn

on s own Yore exstn yorse so, ts terrbe

sme. Yo can ardy see ot o yor eyes, an youve

ost yor voce rom jn. And te peoe are no ess

tred. s s not te wy to o abot t; yo nt o onorever settn every mtter yorse t snt even nec

essrysten to me yo represent te peoe beore

od nd brn te mportant matters, te ones tt

concern everybody, beore Hm, tats te eno

Bt," e sd estrn esy, o nd wbdn, moreor ess respected peope amon yor ore, nd set

tem above te oters: bove tosnd, above n

dred, even bove ty or ten, so tt tey cn jde

tem acordn to te jste nd accorn to te ws

tat yo ave presented to te peope. Let tm brnony te reay mportnt matters to yo; te esser ones

tey tae care o temsevesyo dont even ave to

now bot tem wodnt ve my tte pn nd

codnt ave otten away to py yo a vst tot

d to now abot everytn nd rn n crcese yo."

E A B L E S O F E AW 65


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ut the juges will take its an will n or the

goless ones," Mses answere ejectely For gits make

seeing men blin an pervert the just man's ause"

I know, I kno," replie ethro. m quite aware o

that ut that's the ice you have to pay I you'e goingto aminister justice an create orer, it oen't matter

so much i gits omplicate the situatin a it. Look, the

ones who take gis, theyre oriay olk, but the people

ae also compose o oinay olk that's why they appe

ciate what's orinary an can adjust to it comortablysies, i someone has his case subverte by a jue

overten, because the llow took something rom a go

les one, then h shol o thouh ocial channels an

have reourse to legal proess; he shoul all pon the

jugeovery an the jugeoverahunre an ultimately the jugeoveathousan, who ets more gits

than anyone an threore has a clearer view Your man

wll n justice with him, i he hasn't rown too bore

with the whole thing by then"

hus ethro uttered his opinion with the graceul gestures that mae lie easier or all who saw them, showin

that he was the iestkin o a civilize eset peple

Moses listene to him ejectely an noe He ha

the impressionable sol o a lonely, spirital man who

nos reectively at the cleverness o the worl an un-erstans that it may well be corret nee, he ollowe

the avice o his et brotherymarriageit was quite



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navodabe He apponed ay jdges wo e jse ow

aorng o s eangs aongsde e arge sprng and

aongsde e smaer ones Tey adjdae e uno

em ases f an ass ad faen no a p, r exame),

and ony e apa ases ame o m, Go's pres, aog e reay bg ones were dedd by y os.

And so e was no onger exessvey ag p n ese

maers, and nsead a s arms free for e fer

spng a e nende o o on e formess body

of e peope, an fr w osa, e sraeg youngman, ad won m a woksop, namey, e oass of Ka-

de. se was an mporan exampe of e mpa

ons of Go's nvsby, eany, bu was reay ony

an exape, and wou be a anng, engy ask, o

be aeve w anger and w paene, s spnfom e nry e no merey a peope ke or peo-

pesr wom e odnary was omforabeb rae

an exraornary peope, a peope apa, a pre reaon,

ereed o e nvsbe One and saned o Hm.

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FIFTEE

THE BOOD KIN soon realzed what t meant to haveallen nto the hands o a workman lke Moses, both angry

and patent, n servce to the Invsble One. They realzed

that the unnatural dretve to rase no cry o oy at ther

eneys drownng had been only a begnnngt was n

act an antcpaton, located ar nto the realm o purty

and holness, wth many precondtons to be met beore

one could reah the pont o eperencng a demand lke

that as not comletely unnatural. The true nature o the

horde and how muh they were only raw ateral o esh

and blood, lakng the undamentals o purty and hl

ness; how much Moses had to bein rom the bennn

and nstrct them n rst thingsths an be seen by the

prmtve precepts wth whch he bean to get to work on

them, to hsel and to chp awayand not to ther plea

sure. The blok o tone does not cheer or the master but

aganst hm, and the rst thns that happen durn ts

ormaton seem to t the most unnatural o all.Moses, wth hs wdeset eyes and hs pushedn noe,

was always among them, now here, now there, now deep

68


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in one enmpment and now in anothe, shing his sts

fom thei boad wists. Cping and avilng, he oggled

and staightened out thei natue, epimnded, ligned,

nd lened it up as needed, all the while taing s his

touhstone the invisibility of God, of Yhweh, who hdled them out of Egypt to tae them as His people, and

who wanted them to be a holy peole, holy lie imsel

At pesent they wee nothing but abble, whih ws dem

onstted when they emptied thei bodies wheeve tey

happened to be, even in thei mp. Tht was disgeand n aition You should hve ple outside the

amp to wal out to if its needed, do you he me? And

you should hve little shovel to dig with bee you sit

down; and afte youve sat down you should ove it ove,

the Lod you God wals witin you mp, whihshould theefoe be holy mp, namely, len one, so

tat He will not old His nose and tun wy fom you.

Fo holiness begins with leanliness, and suh puity in

oase things is the ose beginning of all puity id

you get tht, Ahimn, nd you, mistess Nemi? Nexttime ome by, want to see eveyone with a little shovel,

o the angel of death shall be visited upon you!

You should be len and bthe often with fesh wte

fo the sae of you health, beause without that, thee

n be no puity o holiness, and disese is unlen fyou think tht vulgity is helthie thn len pties,

you e fool and should be stu with aundie, pim

T E TA B L E S O F T E LAW 69


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as food no oe an is e ig wi you soud no

ea eie fo i as ove ooves b does no ew e

ud An eefoe disiguish!

Eveying in e wae a as ns and sales a

ay you ea bu waeve is siding aoun wioue salaandes and ei ilk ey ae also o God o

be sue b as food ey sould be an avesion o yo.

Among e bids you sod sn e eag e ossi-

age e osey e vlue and ei ie; in aiion

al avens e osi e igawk e ukoo esee owl e swa e gea owl e ba e oo-

an e sok e eon and awing as we as e swa-

ow fgo e oooeyou soud avoid i oo. And

who wold wa to ea a weasel a ose a oa o a

edgeog? Wo is so abbeike as o onsue e iade oe and e sowwo o anying else a ees

on e ea an awls on is belly? Bu is you ae doig

ad uing you souls io a essool! Te ex eson

see eaing a sowwo wi ean fo e e ad way

neve o do i again. Fo eve oug e won die o iad i will do im no a it is disgaeful and e ae

any ings a you shoul nd disgaefl. And ee

foe you su ea no aion Besides i's afu.

And so e gave e ees fo eaing and esied

e in maes of nouismen bu no only in hesee aso did i in aes of lus and love beause in a

ea oo eveying was osyvy in e way of

T E TA B L E S O T E LAW 7 1


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true rabbe. You shoud ot break the arriae vow, he

tod the, or it is a ho barrier But do ou kow what

ese is iplied b ot breaki the vow? It eas a hu

dred restrictios or the sake o Gods hoiess, ad ot

o that ou shoud ot covet our eihbors wiethatis the east o it For ou ive in the esh, but are swor

t the Ivisibe One, ad arriae is the epite o a

purit i the siht o God For that reaso ou shud ot

take a wo ad her other as wel, to ive o one

exap Tht is usee. Nor shoud u ever, ever iewith our sister, to see her shae a she ours, or that

is iest You shoudt eve lie with our aut, that is

either worth o her or o ou, ad ou shoud shrik

bak ro it Whe a woa has her aiet, ou shoud

avoid her d ot approach the source o her boo. Adi soethi shaeu happes to a a i his seep, he

sha be ipure uti the ext evei a bathe hise

assiduousl i water

I hear that ou are uri our dauhter ito whori

ad taki a whores waes ro her? Do that o ore,or i ou persist in it, I wi have u stoed hat are

ou thiki o, to seep with a bo as with a woa?

That is a absurdit ad a aboiatio ao the peo

pe, ad both o ou shoud die r it. A i soeoe,

be it a a or woa, takes up with a beast, that perso shoud be copete eradicated, ad strled ao

with the beast

72 T O MA S M A N N


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Jst imine their dismy t ll these restrictions At

rst they hd the elin tht if they dhered to ll these

thins life s they knew it wold e no more. He ws

hippin wy t them with the chisel so tht the chips

were yin, nd tht ws to e tken very literlly, for hewsn't okin bot the pnishments to e meted ot r

the worst trnsressions, nd kin p his interditions

stood yon Josh nd his nel of eth.

I m the Lrd thy God," Moses sid, rnnin the risk

tht they miht in trth tke him r God, who rohtyo ot of the lnd of Eypt nd set yo prt rom ll

peoples For tht reson, yo too shold set prt th pre

from the impre nd not follow otr peopls in whor

dom, t e holy nto Me. For I, the Lord, m hly nd

hve set yo prt so yo cn e ine. The most imrethin of ll is to ttend to ny od t Me, for I m el

os God. Te most impre thin o ll is to mke n

ime, whether it look like mn or womn, n ox or

hwk, sh or worm, for if yo do tht it is postsy

inst Me, even if the ime is ment to represent Me,nd yo miht st s well sleep with yor sister or with

bestit's t smll step from one to the other.

e on rd! I m mon yo nd see everythin.

If nyone oes whorin with the Eyptin ods o ni

mls or the ded, I will seek venence. I will hse h

mann -tables of the law

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